Top headlines: Indian economy picks up in Sept, Tata aims for BigBasket

Bharti Airtel's CEO explained why the company would stay away from the 5G auctions

India's economy picked up speed in September as a revival in demand and business activity helped drive the nation toward recovery from the pandemic-induced slump. Bharti Airtel's CEO said that the company would stay away from the 5G auctions, as the spectrum offered at the current prices were not affordable. Here is more on those stories and other headlines.

As demand picks steam in Sep, Indian economy's animal spirits soar

India’s economy picked up speed in September as a revival in demand and business activity helped drive the South Asian nation toward recovery from the pandemic-induced slump. Five of the eight high-frequency indicators, including exports, tracked by Bloomberg News improved last month, while three were steady. That helped move the needle on a dial measuring the so-called ‘Animal Spirits’ to 5 from 4 in August -- a level arrived at by using the three-month weighted average to smooth out volatility in the single-month readings. Read More...

Looking to go omnichannel, Tata may pick major stake in BigBasket: Experts

Online grocer BigBasket, which is in talks with the Tata Group to sell a majority stake in the company according to reports could be doing this as they might not have a proper visibility in terms of investments from large investors, say experts. “The competition which BigBasket faces now is with the big three -- Amazon, Walmart and Reliance. If BigBasket’s biggest investors want to bet on them, they will have to write a big cheque. A $10-15 million cheque will not help the company,” said Satish Meena, Senior Forecast Analyst at Forrester Research. Read More...

Bharti Airtel to stay away from 5G auctions, as prices exorbitant: Vittal

Lack of a reliable ecosystem and the high price of the coveted 5G spectrum will deter Bharti Airtel from participating in the auctions if they happen next year. Bharti Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal said that the company would stay away from the 5G auctions, if they happened next year as the spectrum offered at the current prices were not affordable for the company. “The 5G ecosystem is yet to develop here and the prices are very high and we can’t afford them,” Vittal said during the company’s post earnings call. Read More...

IndiGo Q2: Loss up to Rs 1,610 crore seen despite cost cutting measures

InterGlobe Aviation-owned IndiGo airline is expected to narrow its losses sequentially during the September quarter of FY21 (Q2FY21) as analysts see more people using airlines as a means to travel amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The airline is set to report its quarterly numbers on Thursday, October 29. During the three month period under review, the stock of the low-cost carrier soared 26 per cent on the BSE, as against a 9 per cent rally in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex, ACE Equity data show. Read More...

Covid-19: Mahindra Finance expects loan recast worth Rs 6,000 crore

Mahindra and Mahindra Financial Services expect to restructure loans worth Rs 6,000 crore of 0.15 million customers under RBI's loan Covid-19 regulatory package. It will also work to keep net Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) below four per cent in the current fiscal end. Out of 1.6 million customers, 100,000-150,000 accounts are likely to come up for restructuring. That amount would be around Rs 6,000 crore. Read More...